This invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing and controlling information, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for managing and controlling information in a restaurant.
In the past, in restaurants of substantial size it was difficult at best to continuously determine table status, since this was done by word of mouth from waiters in the various rooms of the restaurant to the Maitre D'. In addition, orders for food and drinks had to be carried from the patrons of the restaurant to the kitchen area. After the patrons had completed their meal the check had to be totalled by the waiter and given to the patrons. The credit card or money received by the waiter in payment of the bill then had to be carried to a remotely positioned cash register with the change then returned to the patron. The aforementioned tasks were time consuming and resulted in many inefficiencies which increased the overhead costs of the restaurant and hence resulted in increased cost of food to the patrons. In addition, in the past, inventory control was periodically made by the chef or a manager which resulted in rather loose inventory control. Thus, once again, the increase in the cost of overhead resulted because of the extra inventory required because of lack of stringent controls thereof.
Recently, attempts have been made to provide automatic inventory control and restaurant service systems to improve the efficiency of restaurants and reduce overhead expenses. For example, Auger discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,797 a system for coordinating the operation of a restaurant wherein telephone communication from each of a plurality of rooms to a central console 30 was provided to determine the occupancy status of the tables in each of a plurality of rooms.
In addition, Wolf discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,416 a business order control system wherein the waitress identification number, the order number of an item and the quantity thereof was keyed into a console which was positioned in a restaurant or into one of a plurality of outside consoles which were positioned outside of the restaurant. A display on the console confirmed to the waitress that the correct code number had been keyed into the console. The information keyed into the console was then coupled to a tape punch unit afterwhich the tape was coupled to a tape reader. The output of the tape reader was coupled to a typewriter which typed the order keyed into the internal or external consoles. At the same time, the output of the tape reader was coupled to a translator storage unit which stored the price and description of the item corresponding to the coded input. The output of the translator was coupled via the tape reader to a calculator which calculated the total bill. The value of the bill was then coupled back to a typewriter for printing out of the bill for the customer.
This system also included a record display system in the form of a display board. As an order was filled, a reversible stepper switch was actuated to decrement the number of a particular item on back order. This provided information to the chef as to how many of a particular item are on back order. The Wolf system also includes an indication of how many of a selected item are in storage so that an accurate inventory check could be made on a continuous basis.
The aforementioned system requires that a plurality of consoles be positioned at predetermined locations within and outside of the restaurant. This requires that the order first be recorded by means of pencil and paper and then hand delivered to the console after which the order is inputted to the control system. Accordingly, while the aforementioned system did provide an improvement in the efficiency of the operation of restaurants, this system included a notable drawback in that the double recording of an order was required in each instance.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved restaurant management and control system.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved management information and control system for substantially decreasing the work required and time expended in the receiving and transferring of orders within a restaurant.